Wahoo, rain in Southern California! Who would have thought. Not just rain but pouring rain with lightening and thunder! Again, wahoo. Though it won't make a dint in the drought, it's a nice change. It reminded me of the winter we never had and the soups and stews that I didn't get to make cuz it never rained and that wonderful stay home on a Saturday in your jammies just never seemed to happen. Ok, that was a little pent up rant. I just had to make stew with this kind of weather. Now granted it is not cold out, not even close. It is the sound of the thunder that just begs for the oven on and stew simmering away in a dutch oven. This way it is all made in one pot and there are no dirty dishes except a few measuring cups or spoons. Again can you give me Woot. Now, I like my stews very, very thick and hearty. It is very easy to thin this out by increasing a cup at a time the broth. Also, don't think you cannot make this because you do not have a dutch oven. You can make the stew on top of the stove with a regular soup pot. Just simmer it for the same length or time or a bit longer as you do want that tough stew meat to get very tender. My guess is that you can also make this in a crock pot but just use the 2 cups of broth.

Heat the dutch oven on the stove at a medium to medium high heat. Add 2 TBSP Olive oil and let get hot.Toss the stew meat into the pot and quickly brown on all sides. When the stew meat is almost ready to remove, add the Port Wine and cook for 2-3 minutes. Remove stew meat to a plateThere should be liquid at the bottom of the pot. Let it simmer for 2-3 minutes to reduce.Add the onions and brown, 1-2 minutesAdd the potato, carrots and garlic cook for 2-3 minutes. You can add another 1-2 tsp of Olive oil if needed.Add the entire can of diced tomatoes. Stir, simmer 2-3 minutesAdd the tomato paste and the chopped basil leafs, simmer 2-3 minutesAdd the Beef Broth, simmer 5 minutesPlace in oven for 1 hour 30 minutes at 350 degrees F or 176 degrees CIf cooking it in a dutch oven and you used only the 2 cups of broth, check it at 1 hour 15 minutes to ensure that it hasn't reduced too much. If it has just add water or more beef broth.If you used the 3 cups of beef broth and decide that it is not thick enough, melt 2 TBSP butter and add 1 TBSP cornstarch into it. Mix until smooth, add to pot and simmer on the stove for 30 minutes. Keep an eye on it as it can thicken fairly quickly.

I made a side salad with leafy greens and a creamy ranch style dressing and gluten free cornbread (click on the highlight to take you to my recipe). It was so filling and satisfying for a rainy day. Now if this could just happen during the winter everything would be right in my world!

I hope you liked this recipe, if you did leave a comment below. I also have a YouTube site and made a video for this recipe (see below). Just click play. If you like the video, click the "Thumbs Up" to like it and subscribe to my channel!

Thank you for stopping by and remember, enjoy life.It's the one you have, Tammie

Nutrition facts are based off inputing ingredients at http://www.caloriecount.com/